Didn't mind? I was scared as hell - I still feel worried and can't sleep at night :D
Hahahaha, what a great explanation of ranking system. :)
Basically thats it, but in aikido is a bit different - some sort of non-competitive martial arts is achieved with having only black and white belts (which are graded both grades of white, and belts), but gives no envy or some other jealousy things on the mats.
Usually takes you at least 5 yrs to get from white to black belt - and this is when most of the people give up on aikido - but the actual fun starts here - as of this point you actually understand something but still have no idea about the whole thing. :)
So there are grades of black belt (in Aikido currently 9th DAN is highest - and founder's grandson is not graded - ofc :) ). in order to get from 1st to 4th dan you need to train at least 10 more years (as you need to wait some time between two exams 2 yrs, for 2nd DAN, 3yrs between 2nd and 3rd... 4ys, between 3rd and 4th).... And then the fun starts :) after 4th DAN there are no more examinations - but these are rewarded on merit - and what you actually gave back to Aikido.
Of course, all these grades are granted by Daniel :) sorry for a bit of a boring explanation :)